Supply Depot

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.”

I live in the suburbs of Chicago. My morning routine is that after devotions and reading the Bible, I watch the morning news. I watch the news more for the weather and the sports scores from the previous night, but I also catch the headlines.

More often than not, one of the headlines will be that some person, or numerous people, were shot, stabbed, or killed overnight in violence in the city.

While it is rare for something like that to happen out here in the suburbs, it is all too common in the city.

Now it is time for us to do something about it.

The ministers and their flocks in the city are praying and being active to stop the violence, to bring the peace of Christ to the city.

But now it is time for us in the suburbs to do the same. No longer can I have the mind-set that it is something that happens “there.”

So my call to you is to first, pray!

Pray for the people in our cities. The Christians there are on the frontlines of the evil and violence that has plague our cities since there have been cities.

We need to pray for them. Pray that God will strengthen their faith and resolve to do what it takes to bring the Gospel of Christ to the people of their city.

We should also contact our brothers and sisters in the cities and offer whatever help we can. It could be supplying food for soup kitchens, clothes, toiletries, and other things that they can use to bring the Gospel to hurting people.

I’m not suggesting that we be the great “saviors from the suburbs” for the inner city. That usually isn’t received well in the city. But we can be the resource center for those on the frontlines of this war.

And make no mistake, it is a war. It is a war against Satan. But it is a war already won by Jesus Christ with His death and resurrection. These are the “mop up battles” that will take place until Christ makes His return.

And remember – and be comforted by – the fact that Christ’s return is closer now than when we first believed!